Inspect a gadget

Let's suppose you are just not the gizmo sort. Like Arthur Scargill, you too held out against the barbarians until long after the fight was lost, then bought a mobile phone. Technology for you is on a strictly need-to-know basis, as in: "I don't need to know how to programme the video recorder, because my six-year-old can do it for me." You can manage just fine without an in-car GPS tracking device, a wearable computer, a personal electronic organiser.

But deep in your heart you know you are missing out. There are some new appliances that are more than gizmos, but which? How can you separate the fads from the future? And even if you gamble correctly, you may choose the superior technological standard only to see it lose out in the marketplace, as Betamax video recorders were swamped by VHS.

You may also be aware that now is never the right time to buy. The ineluctable laws of technology state that within six months of your purchase, there will be a better, more powerful model on the market, at a lower price. You will be left with a turkey.

But if the new century has spurred you into action, and you absolutely must get on the high-tech bandwagon, here are some of the safer, and more genuinely useful, options.

WAP mobile phone

Price: Around £250 with a connection, 12p a minute to use

Mobile phone dealers

The publicity for these WAP (mobile Internet) phones has been somewhat misleading. It is just about true that you can use one to surf the Internet, but it is a very limited, text-only form of the Internet.

Still, it is a start - and not a bad one at that. Both Esat Digifone and Eircell now offer WAP services, and these allow you to scroll through a menu. These let you read the news headlines and shortened versions of stories, get GAA, soccer and racing results, or find out what is on television.

You can also check the cinema times and read reviews of the films; find out which plays have received critical acclaim; choose what sort of food you would like to eat, then see a selection of restaurants; and look at the Aer Lingus timetable.

If you are feeling lucky, and you have the Digifone version, there is a link to bookmaker Paddy Power - for the moment you can't actually bet online, but you can at least see the odds for a wide range of events.

WAP phones have just arrived, and the price, at around £250, could well fall as 2000 wears on. Also, watch out for those bills - connecting to the mobile Internet costs 12p a minute.

DVD

Price range: £300-700Where? Electronics outlets

DVD works like a video machine, but not quite. True, you hook it up to your television and you can rent or buy films to play on it, but you can't record from the television. Not yet anyway, though the Japanese are planning a recording DVD player later this year.

So why bother? In a word: quality. The picture is sharper than it has ever been on video, and the audio is in full stereo or even Dolby surround-sound.

Also, a DVD disk can hold far more information than a video tape, and the manufacturers are already finding interesting uses for this extra capacity. For example, on some films, you can choose the camera angles with your remote control. You will probably have a choice of subtitles (useful not just for non-English speakers, but also for the hard of hearing), or even different dubbed language options. You may even be able to pick between different cuts of the film, tailored for children of various ages.

Most people in the electronics world say DVD has built up such a head of steam it will be the home entertainment technology for the next couple of decades, and the prices of both the machines and the disks are falling.

Digital camera

Price range: Where? Camera/electronics outlets

Sure, cameras have got smaller and neater, and developing your film and prints is much quicker, but basically photography hasn't changed since Louis Daguerre first figured it out in 1839. Until now.

With a digital camera there is no film, and no developing. Printing is optional. You take a picture in the same way as before: point at the subject and press the button. But when you take a shot, the extra-large viewfinder on the camera freezes the image. You can inspect your handiwork, then decide whether to store the picture, or scrub it and take another.

This is a huge advantage over a normal camera, because it means there are no more wasted shots, and that you can keep on taking pictures until you get a really good one.

You can load the pictures onto a computer immediately, edit them, store them, run them off on your computer printer, or send them to friends by e-mail. You can choose your favourites, and have a slide-show on the computer for friends.

Digital cameras still cost a lot more than ones that use film, but prices are falling. Now, you can get a good digital camera for £400, and a great one, that can even double as a mini video-camera, for £800.

MP3 player

Price: Around £150

Electronics outlets

IT IS hard to believe that such a tiny device - about the size of a Sony Walkman - could strike such terror into the hearts of music industry executives. But it has, and mainly because they understand human nature. What an MP3 player allows you to do is download music from the Internet, arrange songs in whatever order you like, and play them back to yourself in the same way as a Walkman would.

The problem for the music industry is that, a lot of the time, the music is being passed over the Internet in breach of copyright. Many people take the view that if they can download the latest B*witched album, or their favourite tracks from it, for free, their conscience can cope with the moral issues involved.

MP3 players do not have to be used for illegal copying, of course - it is possible to buy albums in MP3 version on the Internet. Also, as the technology has grown, many start-up bands now put MP3 versions of their songs on the Internet for free, to boost their celebrity.

The price of MP3s is falling, and you should be able to get one for around £150. Obviously, it is no use to you without a computer.

Electric car

Price range: From £10,000 - depends on Government

Ford, Nissan, others

Most people think the electric car is like the Shannon drainage scheme - one of those top policy priorities that we have talked about for decades but will never actually happen. They're wrong. The Ford-backed version of the electric car, for example, is now in full production, at 8,000 a year. The Th!nk is a little twoseat number, made from plastic but with a strong "safety cage", top speed 56 miles an hour, and easy to recharge.

At around £17,000, it is quite expensive, but the manufacturers hope governments will encourage people to use the cars by waiving taxes. For example, in Oslo, drivers of electric cars pay no VAT, duty or road tax, are exempt from tolls and parking fees and get subsidised electricity to re-charge the batteries.

This makes the car a very attractive choice for urban dwellers, and really cuts down on traffic and pollution. Electric cars are also, reportedly, lovely to drive. They are really easy to park, very nippy over short stretches, and because the engine makes virtually no noise, drivers get a feeling of inner calm as they glide along. But maybe that's just on the advertisement.

Sean Mac Carthaigh can be contacted at smaccarthaigh@irish-times.ie